What would have happened if?
by attonranden
Summary: Set after Nami. What would have happened if Naruto and Sasuke grew closer? What would have happened if Sakura became an actual part of Team Seven? What would have happened if Kakashi took training his team seriously? What would have happened if they had all bonded as a team sooner? Full summary inside. Smarter Naruto, less emo Sasuke. Slight NaruKiba in later chapters Rated M-MA
1. Chapter 1: Aftermath

**Summary **

**What would have happened if Sasuke and Naruto grew closer after their near death experience at the hands of Haku? What would have happened if the rouge ninja's death affected Naruto more? What would have happened if Kakashi decided that he needed to take training his brats seriously? What would have happened if Sakura decided to stop being a bitch sooner and actually became part of the team? What would have happened if they **_**all**_** became an actual team? **

**Smarter Naruto, less emo Sasuke, more serious Sakura and less half arsed Kakashi. Let the games begin. **

**WARNING! There may be a bit of **

**Set after Wave but before chūnin exams. **

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**Authors note**

**PLEASE READ!**

** Okay so I know a lot of people are expecting me to update Harsh Childhood but I'm finding it difficult to continue with that story. You see I started Harsh childhood in 2011 kind of as an experiment, really I was just seeing if people would like something that I had written and there was no major forethought about where the story was going to go or anything like that. This story is different because I have a lot of the plot thought out beforehand. To be honest I feel like I'm playing catch up with Harsh Childhood a lot of the time cas even I'm not sure where it's going. I started it when I had no idea what I was doing and it's getting on my nerves because I just want to scrap the entire thing and start over but I don't feel like I should for some reason.**

** Anyway this story is now my focus, I shall continue Harsh Childhood at some point but I want to focus on something that I actually feel confident in advancing. **

** Okay currently I have plans to turn this into a **_**light**_** and I stress light, NarutoXKiba story later on though I plan to try and keep the story serious and not focus solely on that pairing. I really like Naruto and Kiba paired stories. I'm hoping that this story will contain serious Naruto story properties as well as expand on different character relationships. **

** Also Naruto should totally be gay! That's my personal opinion anyway. Please rate an review. **

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**Chapter one: The Aftermath**

** (May 8****th****, Kakashi)**

Kakashi was worried; the Jōnin had been watching his students ever since they left the wave. He would have had to have been a complete fool to think that the experience wouldn't leave its mark on them. After all it had been a round of firsts, Naruto and Sakura both thought that they had seen their first comrade die while on a mission, it being Sasuke only made it worse as, despite whatever Naruto might say to the contrary, Sasuke was very dear to them both. The experience had also had an impact on Kakashi, he had felt Sasuke's chakra flare and then diminish before Naruto's outburst and the Jōnin had felt a storm of emotions pass through him at the thought of one of his first students dying. Naruto had used the Kyuubi's chakra for the first time whether he knew it or not was another matter however, though Kakashi suspected that the blond knew exactly what he had done, Naruto thought he had the world fooled with his class clown act but Kakashi could see through it easily enough. Sasuke had also awakened his sharingan something that would have the village in an ecstatic uproar when the rumour mill started turning. They had all seen Zabuza's and Haku's dead bodies as well, Naruto seemed particularly torn up about Haku's death but Kakashi was glad in some small way because it had helped the blond find his resolve to be a ninja and given Naruto a real reason to keep getting stronger. Not that Naruto really needed the second one; Sasuke's presence and his dream to become Hokage were enough. The team had also completed their first A-Rank mission after only a month out of the academy, how many Genin could say that?

Yes, it had been a round of firsts for them, and in many ways Kakashi as well but as he watched them slowly making their way home he felt worried, he knew that they needed time but it had been days since the battle on the bridge and none of them had said more than five words to each other since then. Kakashi hoped that all they needed was some time away from each other to sort out their feelings, he hoped anyway. Knowing that he would most likely just make the situation worse if he said anything however the Jōnin just sighed quietly, they were almost back to the village anyway and they had defiantly earned the next couple of days off.

With that thought in his mind Kakashi kept his senses peeled hoping that nothing would happen on their way back to the village, for once it seemed someone was looking out for them, or Kami was just through screwing with them for the time being. Either way Team Seven made it back to Konoha safe and sound. As they walked through the village gates Kakashi coughed to get their attention.

"I need to go and give my report to Hokage-sama," Kakashi told them he knew that they were expecting him to just dismiss them like he always did whenever they completed a mission but instead Kakashi inclined his head towards their team meeting place. "I want you all to wait for me by the bridge. I won't be long." With a pair of nods and a quiet 'Hai sensei' Kakashi watched his students leave, he really hoped a couple of days of free time would help them. That thought in the Jōnin's head Kakashi made his way to the Hokage's office to give his report and request a few days annual leave for him and his team.

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** (May 8****th****, Kakashi)**

When Kakashi arrived at his teams meeting place he was pleasantly surprised to find that all of his students were sat together, side by side, against the bridge railing, they weren't talking but Kakashi was glad to see that they were at least sticking together after what happened. They all looked up at Kakashi as he approached probably expecting him to give them a lecture or something but Kakashi just sat down with a sigh.

"That wasn't exactly how I wanted your first A-Rank mission to go," the Jōnin chuckled nervously glancing to the side to look at his students, they were all paying rapt attention to him, even Sasuke for once. "Not many Genin can say that they survived an A-Rank only a few weeks after graduation, I didn't do my first A-Rank until after I became a Chūnin and that was a whole _year_ after I graduated."

"What was it?"

"Hmm?"

"The mission what was it?" Sasuke asked getting Kakashi to smile at the last Uchiha he could tell that Naruto and Sakura were interested as well and decided to exaggerate a little bit, if only to make for a more interesting story.

"It was to retrieve a package that was stolen by rouge shinobi," Kakashi began he wasn't really used to telling stories about his past, especially not to cheer people up, all his past experience stories were usually tragedies. "It was originally a C-Rank mission until the rouge shinobi got involved, then it was classed as an A-Rank and the Third sent myself and two Jōnin out to eliminate the ninja and retrieve the package."

"Did everything go alright?" Sakura asked making Kakashi smile don at her. Everything had gone perfectly actually, their ambush had worked to perfection and half the rouge shinobi were dead before Kakashi and his comrades even engaged them, the other half took one look at him and thought that he was Konoha's white fang and panicked. From there it was a very simple matter to take them down, seal away their bodies and retrieve the package.

"Yeah, it was an easy mission but…" Kakashi sighed heavily he was a lot more arrogant back then and had even let the very quick promotion get to his head a little bit. "I was getting a bit too big headed, that mission put me back in my place I think."

"Hard to imagine you being anything other than laid back and lazy Kaka-sensei," Naruto laughed, but Kakashi was a little saddened to realise that it wasn't like Naruto's normal laughs; it was a lot more subdued but still the small smile was genuine and it seemed to make Sakura and Sasuke brighten up as well, they probably both agreed with him.

"That hurts Naruto-kun," Kakashi mock whined putting a gloved hand over his heart. "Don't you think that Sensei is awesome after fighting with Zabuza?" both Naruto and Sasuke smirked at that completely agreeing that their sensei was badass after seeing his fight with Zabuza, neither of them doubted that he was of Jōnin calibre. Kakashi noticed that Sakura hung her head after the mention of Zabuza.

"It's so sad," she whispered though she knew her teammates and Sensei could hear her. "Haku and Zabuza didn't even have to die; Gatō was going to betray them anyway." Kakashi quickly put his hand on his students head and smiled down at her.

"Haku died protecting his most precious person," Kakashi stated in a way that left not room for argument. He had actually hesitated before killing Haku, the way the young boy had thrown himself in front of Zabuza and the look in his eyes had shaken Kakashi a little bit though it was nothing that he wouldn't be able to handle. "And Zabuza died trying to redeem himself in his own eyes and he proved that he really did care about the boy." Kakashi would forever respect the 'Demon' of the hidden mist for his actions, the Copy Cat Ninja found it strange, there were several enemy shinobi that he had highly respected over the years more so than ever his own comrades. Maybe it was easier to respect an enemy? Kakashi cared about his comrades more though that was for sure.

"And they're together again right Sensei?" Naruto asked and Kakashi remembered his last words to Zabuza. He had said that he was sure that Zabuza would be able to go to the place where Haku was and Kakashi certainly hoped that he was right.

"That's right," Kakashi smiled as he pulled out three slightly bulging envelopes and handed them to his Genin. "That's the pay not only for an A-Rank but also for a C-Rank; because the mission was upgraded we get paid for both as a kind of bonus." Naruto let out a low whistle as he casually flicked through the money in the envelope given to him.

"This could cover my rent for the rest of the year… and then some."

"Yes well, you all have exactly three days of leave as another reward," Kakashi informed them in a slightly more serious tone, he was going to use those three days to their upmost efficiency and come up with a whole new training program for them all. "So off you all go enjoy your days off, because it'll be training, training, training from then on out." Sasuke smirked at the thought of some real intense training; Sakura sighed but again looked happy at the promise of more training Naruto though looked off to the side as if he were suddenly ashamed of something. Kakashi tilted his head slightly at the blond wondering what was going through his students head. As they all stood up Kakashi put a hand on Naruto's shoulder to stop him from leaving but gestured for his other two students to carry on. They did but only after throwing Naruto concerned and worried glances.

"I'm in trouble aren't I Kakashi-sensei?" The way that Naruto had used his full name had Kakashi worried; Naruto had not once called him by his full name since their meeting almost a month ago. The way Naruto looked up at Kakashi was almost heart wrenching in of itself, Naruto looked like he had had his heart torn out and stomped on. "I'm going to get kicked out of the ninja corps aren't I"

"Why would you think that Naruto-kun?" Kakashi asked even though he already had an idea of why Naruto might think that he and he alone would be getting dismissed from the team.

"…"

"You know Naruto, I am your sensei. You can tell me anything," Kakashi said kneeling down so that was down at Naruto's height, the Jōnin smiled in his own unique way and put what he hoped was a reassuring hand on the blond's shoulder. "_Anything _at all."

"Kaka-sensei," the way that Naruto was suddenly fidgeting and looking at anything other than Kakashi proved what Kakashi already suspected but he wanted to hear Naruto say the words _and_ see what actual reaction to using the Kyuubi's chakra was. "I used his chakra." It was said as a whisper but Kakashi heard it anyway and saw the way that Naruto's eyes lit up in a small panic and intense amount of fear. "I didn't mean to! I really didn't! It's just that Haku _killed_ Sasuke and I was so angry and I just wanted to hurt him. I just wanted to make him pay but then everything got red and my whole body started to hurt but I didn't care and all I wanted was to see Haku bleed and… and I was soo angry."

"Naruto," Kakashi mumbled the blond's name and was about to hug his student when the next words out of Naruto's mouth made Kakashi stop cold, partly in anger but mostly with guilt.

"I really am a monster," Naruto looked so defeated as he said those words, he just slumped and looked like he wanted to curl into the smallest ball possible and stay that way. "I really am nothing but the nine tails, nothing but a monster, they were right."

"**No!**" The sudden and unexpected anger surprised even Kakashi but the Jōnin didn't let that stop him, Naruto needed to hear what he had to say. Kakashi grabbed both of his student's shoulders and made sure that the blond was looking at him before he spoke again though. "Uzumaki Naruto you are not a monster. You are a loyal and proud ninja of Konohagakure, you are not only my beloved student but also Iruka-sensei's as well, and you are your teammate's friend and dear comrade. Do you understand me Naruto? You. Are. Not. A. Monster. Or a demon or anything else those ignorant villagers can think of to throw at you." Kakashi didn't think he had ever said so much in his life, he wasn't very good with words after all but seeing the look on Naruto's face told him that his words were heard and well received. "You are not a monster." The Jōnin said a little more gently and pulled Naruto into a proper hug just to get his point across, it was at that moment that Kakashi realised the depths of his feelings towards Naruto. When Kushina had been pregnant Kakashi had been excited to meet Naruto, thinking of the blond like a little brother about to be born, when had he stopped thinking like that? Filing those thoughts away Kakashi pulled back from a stunned Naruto and smiled at him once again.

"Kaka-sensei," Naruto whispered tears already forming in his eyes from Kakashi's sudden affection, the Jōnin just smiled and pushed Naruto after his teammates.

"Go on, they'll be worried about you," Kakashi hoped that he would be able to help his student, students, Sasuke was in as much emotional turmoil as Naruto was and even Sakura was starting to show signs that she might need some help soon. Naruto quickly nodded to his sensei though and after Kakashi wiped a stray tear from the blonds face Naruto was running off to catch his teammates. Kakashi hopped that they would speak to each other before going their separate ways. They were clearly showing signs of acting as a team but they still needed a lot of work and Kakashi wasn't about to go into this new chapter in Team Sevens life with anything other than one hundred and ten percent.

Kakashi wondered if he could get them ready for the Chūnin exams, they still had two months before that time came around again, he knew that Gai would be putting his team into the exams this year as he had opted to train them up for a year before he entered them, should he do the same?

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**(May 8****th****, Sasuke)**

Sasuke was conflicted.

The last Uchiha had been sitting in his apartment for the last few hours trying to sort through his memories of Team Sevens mission in Nami and come to terms with everything that had happened, but he just couldn't. He had unlocked his sharingan and his team completed an A-Rank mission, shouldn't he be happy about that? The sharingan alone was a significant step forward in his quest to bring his brother to justice but he couldn't seem to produce the sense of joy that he should be feeling at the accomplishment and in the back of his mind he knew why.

For years he had been telling himself that he was an Uchiha, one of the elite, civilian and shinobi alike had been given him everything that he wanted since his clan had been massacred. He was labelled a prodigy; he excelled in every test that the academy gave him, he lived with the belief that he was strong and that he didn't need anyone or anything except more power. He had been convinced that his teammates would just hold him back, thinking of Sakura he still held to the belief that she was holding him back but Naruto…

Sasuke knew that he hadn't unlocked the sharingan because he was suddenly worthy or because he suddenly wanted it more when he was in Nami. No, he unlocked it… because he wanted to protect Naruto. That thought alone nearly made Sasuke choke. When had Naruto become so important to him? When had Naruto become more important that his own survival or his desire for revenge? Sasuke threw himself in front of Naruto to stop Haku from killing the blond, without any thought or care about himself. He had unlocked his sharingan, one of the most feared and powerful bloodlines in the world because of his desire to protect his teammate. He hadn't wanted Naruto to be hurt anymore because…. Because Naruto was his friend.

Sasuke had been borderline furious when he first come to the realisation, after all unlocking his sharingan was meant to have been a huge thing, it was something to be celebrated and it had been ruined by his blond idiot of a teammate. Sasuke quickly shook those thoughts out of his head though; Naruto had helped him unlock his kekkei genkai faster that was all that mattered.

His sharingan wasn't the only thing plaguing his mind however, Sasuke had almost died, worse than that he had gotten all soft and started confessing things to Naruto that he really shouldn't have. Still, he really thought that he was going to die and so did Naruto. Sasuke would remember the look in Naruto's eyes for the rest of his life. Not so much the pain and sorrow that was so clear in those cerulean orbs, although flattering and painful at the same time that look Sasuke could dismiss. It was the moment that Naruto thought he had died, the moment where Sasuke could still see and hear but couldn't move, the moment where Naruto's eyes turned a blood red that rivalled the sharingan's in intensity, the moment his eyes turned almost animalistic. Sasuke had seen so much hatred and anger in those eyes that for one terrifying moment Sasuke wondered if a demon had taken over his friend.

It was only after the battle that Sasuke began to wonder if that was what his eyes looked like when he thought about his brother. Honestly, that thought scared him; he didn't want to have to become an animal, or worse a monster, in order to kill Itachi. With that thought came a whole cascade of others though, his brother not only had the fully mature sharingan but the Mangekyō sharingan as well, Itachi was already a monster wasn't he, would Sasuke have to become one in order to defeat him?

Sasuke banished that thought almost as soon as it came to the forefront of his mind; the world was littered with powerful shinobi that weren't monsters. The third and fourth Hokages were prime examples, the fourth had defeated the Kyuubi almost thirteen years ago, a real monster, and the Third was once revered as a God of Shinobi and still held the title of 'The Professor' but despite all his power there wasn't a single more grandfatherly person within the village. No, Sasuke did not want to become a monster and would not become a monster in order to kill Itachi. After all, he one day wanted to rebuild his clan, he couldn't do that if he became a monster and had no home to return to, and Konoha was his home.

With his silent vow made Sasuke decided that he needed a shower, his body still ached from where Haku had pierced him with all those senbon, he certainly wouldn't be training for the next day or two… Maybe he would go see Naruto tomorrow, after all it wasn't odd for friends to visit one another was it?...Was it?

"Even when you're not here you're annoying dobe." Sasuke sighed.

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**(May 8****th****, Naruto)**

Naruto was confused.

He had been sat in his apartment for the last few hours staring at a cup of long since cooled ramen. The blond had been expecting Kakashi to kick him and his demon butt into the dirt the moment that the Jōnin found out that Naruto had used Kyuubi's chakra, but he hadn't. In fact Kakashi had done the exact opposite; he told Naruto that he wasn't a monster and that he was a beloved student and comrade. Naruto wasn't sure if his heart could handle the amount of happiness that it was feeling from those comments. Being acknowledged was something that Naruto had always wanted for as long as he could remember, being told by his sensei that he was a beloved student was possibly one of the greatest compliments that could ever be given.

Common opinion of Naruto was that he was a loud mouthed, obnoxious idiot. Even people that knew nothing about the Kyuubi or didn't care about the demon fox thought so about him. Kakashi-sensei had once, very kindly and somewhat awkwardly, expressed the same opinion of Naruto when the blond practically begged the Jōnin to tell Naruto what Kakashi thought of him. He wouldn't lie and say that his spirit hadn't been dampened the next day because it had, he had thought that Kakashi was like all the others at that point and decided that he would be extra loud just to annoy his sensei. But…

Naruto was loud because people looked at him if he made enough noise.

Naruto acted like a clown because even if people were laughing at him they were acknowledging his presence.

Naruto was obnoxious because people would take the time to talk to him if only to try and put his spirit down in the dumps.

Naruto had been quiet since the wave because he realised that he was with his team, with Kakashi-sensei, with Sasuke-teme and with Sakura-chan. He was with people that didn't need him to be loud or obnoxious or to act like an idiot to be acknowledged. After the battle on the bridge Kakashi-sensei had congratulated him for his battle skills and for what he said to Zabuza. Kakashi, with not a word, look or action from Naruto had acknowledged him for something that he had done and he hadn't been mocking about it either.

Sakura, after fussing over Sasuke, had almost screamed at Naruto, at first Naruto thought it was because he had done something but when she started running her hands all over him, clearly looking for wounds to match all the blood on his shredded clothes, Naruto realised that she was frantic with worry. Sakura who constantly called him a baka and hit him on the head was beside herself with worry about him, she was acknowledging him.

Even Sasuke, once he had regained consciousness, had a look that was beyond relived to see his teammate in one piece of course Sasuke just nodded his head and called him a dobe but Naruto could clearly see the smile on his face when he said it. The blond was actually worried because Sasuke calling him a dobe was becoming a word of endearment instead of an insult. If Naruto was being honest, being acknowledged by Sasuke meant more to him that Kakashi and Sakura, being acknowledged by someone that was so much like him meant so much more to Naruto.

So Naruto hadn't been loud, or acted like an idiot for attention just to see what would happen, to see if their sudden attitude was a one-time thing because of the battle or if it was something more. To Naruto's ever growing delight it was the latter option. Sakura hadn't called him a baka or hit him for being an idiot since before the battle with Zabuza and Haku. Oh no wait, she hit him for jumping into the battle with Haku without thinking but Naruto felt that that was warranted, in hindsight it was an outright moronic thing to do. Other than that though she had been pleasant and smiled at him. None of them really talked after the battle but Naruto guessed that was because they were all sorting through their own problems, he was still trying to sort out his mess of feelings from the mission. Even Sasuke had been… nice to be around and that alone was enough to make Naruto pause.

Sasuke had been bed ridden for a few days after the battle and Naruto had to spend a day guarding his teammate and the house in case any of Gatō's goons that may have been left around got any funny ideas. The two shinobi had spent an uneventful day in almost complete silence, with Naruto making an occasional comment that may or may not warrant a response from Sasuke. Naruto could tell that Sasuke was surprised from his dramatic change in attitude but Naruto enjoyed the change. He had no doubts about himself though, sitting for long periods of time doing nothing was agonising for him but there was a comfortable atmosphere between himself and Sasuke that day that made it bearable.

Still, even though Naruto was infinitely grateful for not being kicked out of the ninja corps he wanted to know why he wasn't in trouble for using Kyuubi's chakra, surely they weren't expecting him to use it were they? Naruto thought that the point of the seal was to keep Kyuubi locked away. Wasn't it? Or was he meant to use it?

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**(May 8****th****, Sakura)**

Sakura was ashamed.

As the kunoichi lay in her bed safely at home she knew that she had been useless without a shred of doubt in her mind Sakura knew that she had been… useless; she barely had the will to admit that to herself without breaking down in a flood of tears. Throughout the entire mission to Nami she had done nothing but sit back and let her sensei and teammates do everything for her, they had praised her for staying back and protecting the client but had she? To her that equated to the same as sit back and do nothing because she certainly didn't help in either fight against Zabuza or the fight against Haku.

The worst part was that she knew even if she did try and help that there was nothing that she could have done anyway. She was sorely lacking in all aspects of being a shinobi, her stamina was the worst out of her teammates, her taijutsu was mediocre, she had no ninjutsu capabilities she even required hand signs just to do the substitution jutsu and she had no genjutsu to call upon either. No kekkai genkai, no talent, nothing, she was barely better than a civilian and because of this she was not only holding Sasuke back but her entire team.

Sakura was not an idiot, yes she was in love with Sasuke-kun but she knew that her team had had to pick up her slack in the mission to Nami and she knew now that in a battlefield situation that nothing mattered aside from her abilities. Feelings were just a distraction in battle, what mattered were her teamwork skills, her teammates and her own abilities. Her teammates had stepped up to the plate but her teamwork skills and abilities were hilariously lacking.

She needed to improve that much was obvious but how, she was from a civilian family she had no one to give her extra lessons or training, she didn't even know where to begin. She really hoped that Kakashi-sensei gave her a way to improve her skills; she needed something that she could practice and develop in her own time not just during training sessions. After all, Sakura had what some of the other Jōnin called cookie cutter style taijutsu that the academy taught down to perfection. Her chakra control was perfect she just didn't know what to do with it.

"How do I get stronger from here?" Sakura whispered as she curled up in her blanket.

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**(May 8****th****, Kakashi)**

Kakashi was determined.

The Jōnin stood before the village's KIA memorial stone thinking on what he had to do, he stared at one name in particular. Minato Namikaze, his sensei, his mentor the man that he had trusted most in the world and the father of one of his students. Kakashi narrowed his eye at the stone, something was brewing out in the world, Kakashi had seen it before, he may have been out of the ANBU for a few years but the Hokage still trusted him with most of his secrets and the other Jōnin would always mutter things that they shouldn't.

Squads were being ambushed; a new hidden village had popped up and seemed to be sucking in any and all wandering shinobi. Konoha had clashed with multiple other villages to maintain its borders and worse there seemed to be reports of enemy shinobi within their own borders. It was the same as before. The war with Iwa twelve years ago might have seemed sudden to many shinobi and civilians but the truth was that Konoha and Iwa had been stomping on each other's toes for years before open war was declared.

Now another village was apparently doing the same, pushing their luck, seeing how close they could get to the other villages before someone would bite. The only problem was that Konoha seemed to be the sole target and Iwa seemed to be egging them on seeing if Konoha would show any weakness. The truth was that Konoha was still under powered from the Kyuubi's attack twelve years ago, Kakashi had no doubt that they had the other lands daimyō fooled but the other Kage were sure to know that Konoha had yet to fully recover.

Kakashi sighed, he was still thanking their luck that the Kyuubi attacked when it did, despite the attack being a tragedy it was almost perfect timing from Konoha's point of view. Both Iwa and Kumo were exhausted after the almost decade long war with Konoha and its allies, Suna was a fragile ally at best but being the weakest of the five great shinobi villages they didn't dare attack Konoha even when weakened and Kiri had not long begun their bloodline purges and were in a state of civil war at the time of the Kyuubi' attack.

"If I had been there sensei," Kakashi mumbled kneeling down to brush his fingers of the names of his loved ones, Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki. "Would I have been able to make a difference?" Kakashi had asked himself that same question every day for the past twelve years. His arrogance and… and _pride_ had cost Obito Uchiha his life, Kakashi's best and only friend. Kakashi had never been able to call Rin his friend, she had been someone precious to him, and someone that he needed to protect but Kakashi had never been able to call her his friend. He couldn't even protect her though, he couldn't keep her safe. Kakashi Hatake, son of Sakumo Hatake Konoha's White Fang, the last of the once infamous Hatake clan, a prodigy, a shinobi that became a Jōnin at the age of fourteen, the Copy Cat Ninja of Konoha, Kakashi's initial record was on par with that of the Sanin and Itachi Uchiha and still he couldn't protect his precious people. Obito, Rin, Minato, Kushina and so many others that he had been on missions with, that he had tried to protect! Why was he such a failure! Was he really still so arrogant as to think that he could properly teach students? What could a failure teach other than how to fail?

"Why do you do this to yourself my friend?" Kakashi slowly turned to look to possible his last remaining friend, Might Gai, the eccentric Jōnin was clad in his usual green spandex suit and Jōnin jacket but the look he was giving Kakashi was not his usual happy expression, it was serious and filled with the same sorrow that Kakashi was feeling. Gai had lost loved ones as well and knew exactly how Kakashi felt.

"I don't know," Kakashi sighed; he looked back down at the memorial as his friend came to stand beside him, offering the silent companionship that Kakashi so desperately needed at the moment. "I got a team." At that comment Gai immediately brightened and turned his wide grin on his rival.

"Yes I am glad that you have followed my youthful example Kakashi!" Gai bellowed laughing loudly to himself as he started bragging about his team and one particular student called Lee, Gai actually had tears forming in his eyes as he thought about his student. "However it would seem that you have once again beaten me my friend."

"Hmm?" As was usual whenever Gai started ranting about their rivalry Kakashi had no idea what the spandex wearing man was talking about. Most times he just ignoe Gai to appear 'hip an cool' as Gai called him but now he really hadn't a clue.

"Your team is already the talk of the village after only a month your youthful students are well known!" Kakashi blinked at that, they hadn't even been back in the village a whole two hours yet, how in Kami's name did anyone know about their mission yet?

"They almost died Gai," Kakashi said quickly sobering his friend up the masked Jōnin stared down at the KIA stone and clenched his fists. "I won't carve their names on this stone, I won't let them die!" Kakashi knew that it was a foolish promise and one that he had made before, many times. The reality was that the shinobi world was a world of unknowns, anything could happen out in the field and there was little Kakashi could do to stop it. He could only baby his students for so long and then what, would he be with them on every mission? Impossible. Kakashi was already beginning to regret becoming a sensei, not because of his students who were already growing on him but because of his own weakness.

"You're a coward." The simple bluntness of his friends reply actually hurt Kakashi, Gai had never once insulted him, not once despite all the times that Kakashi had beaten him and made him look a fool Gai had not once said anything bad against him. For Gai to say that now bit deeper than Kakashi thought it would. He knew that the pain that the words had caused registered on his face and he knew that Gai had noticed but Kakashi tried to hide it anyway and turned to his friend again, silently demanding an explanation. "You are afraid of letting your students close to you, you are afraid of letting them in under all that armour you have around your heart." Gai glared at Kakashi in a rare moment of anger one that the masked Jōnin couldn't understand. "To be a sensei isn't to protect your students, it is to teach and guide them so that they reach their fullest potential. To teach them to protect themselves Kakashi. You _have _to get over your past losses otherwise all you will do is stunt your students growth." Kakashi just stared at Gai wide eyed, get over his past, he had been trying to get over his losses and the sorrow of the war for years with no success, he simple didn't know how!

"Perhaps they would be better with someone else then." Kakashi didn't even see the punch coming until he was sprawled out on the floor a furious Gai standing over him.

"So you will just run away from your precious students?" Gai practically growled and Kakashi was shocked to find not only anger but contempt in his friend's eyes. "That punch was from your youthful students, who I have no doubt have absolute faith in their sensei." Kakashi felt like someone had punched him in the chest. "The _almost _died Kakashi, _almost_, you led them through that battle and you all came out in one piece and I am sure that they trust that their sensei will be there to pick them up when they fall down. I am sure that they feel safe with their sensei watching over them. I am sure that they would feel upset and betrayed if their sensei passed them off to someone else! So is that what you are my rival? Nothing but a coward and a traitor Kakashi! Or are you Kakashi Hatake, son and student of two of Konoha's greatest heroes and a splendid youthful shinobi?" Kakashi looked down unable to meet Gai's gaze, he wondered what Minato-sensei would do, it was at that moment that Kakashi realised something, something that to others was as clear as day but something that Kakashi had been trying to deny reality.

He was not Minato Namikaze and he would never be the calibre of ninja that his sensei was. Minato was perfect, he was strong and wise and kind, the man never made a single wasted movement everything was part of his plan. He always had a plan, Kakashi had been trying for twelve years to live up to his sensei's name, going so far as to even trying to become his sensei but he wasn't Minato, not even close. That simple, obvious and heart stomping realisation almost had Kakashi in tears. He would never be as good a shinobi as Minato, he would never be able to be as good of a sensei a Minato and he certainly would never be anywhere near as wise as Minato. However he could still be a good ninja, he could still be a good sensei and he still had years left to learn he just had to stop trying to become his dead sensei.

Kakashi looked back up at his friend with a new fire in his eye. Yes there were things that he could teach Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura, he didn't need to be Minato-sensei in order to teach them what they needed to be able to thrive and flourish. He was Kakashi Hatake the man that had copied a thousand jutsu if nothing else he could show them a thing or two to add to their arsenal. Gai must have been the look in Kakashi's eye because the other Jōnin offered Kakashi a hand and pulled his friend up.

"It is natural to doubt one's ability to teach their students the best; we will always think that others could have taught them better or faster but never doubt that you have something to teach. Never think yourself worthless because others _might_ have done better, and I'm sure your students will never doubt who can teach them best or who will grow to know them best."

"Thanks Gai," Kakashi said as he clapped the other Jōnin's arm in a rare moment of comrade, the masked Jōnin might have still had his doubts but he had another few days to sort his feelings on the matter out before he was due to return to his team. Turning back to the KIA stone Kakashi vowed to do better, to be better but promise that he would stop hiding in his sensei's shadow and find his own path. Kakashi had to wonder just how long he it been since he had moved forward, how long had he been looking back? Gai was right though, he had students he had to look forwards he had to move forwards or they would never grow, never flourish and he had three students that had so much raw untapped potential that it would be a crime to waste it.

"Anytime my friend."

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**Okay so that's the first chapter. **

** Anyone else think that Kakashi needed to have some sense beaten into him back during the first arc? I can't be the only one surely. I also can't be the only one that thought WTF at the **_**entire**_** team coming back from Nami the same as as they left. I mean Kakashi was shaken by killing Haku for F* k sake! That kind of experience has to have an impact on a twelve to thirteen year olds psyche! **

** Oh and before anyone asks the dates are just to help me keep track of things easier, having a calendar does wonders for that. **

** Anyway please leave a review because reviews are like love and they make me feel warm. Also my friend has like four thousand reviews on his story so I get jealous….**

**PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW!**


	2. Chapter 2: Friends

**Summary **

**What would have happened if Sasuke and Naruto grew closer after their near death experience at the hands of Haku? What would have happened if the rouge ninja's death affected Naruto more? What would have happened if Kakashi decided that he needed to take training his brats seriously? What would have happened if Sakura decided to stop being a bitch sooner and actually became part of the team? What would have happened if they **_**all**_** became an actual team? **

**Smarter Naruto, less emo Sasuke, more serious Sakura and less half arsed Kakashi. Let the games begin. **

**WARNING! There may be a bit of **

**Set after Wave but before chūnin exams. **

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**Authors note**

** WOW A NEW CHAPTER THE NEXT DAY THAT IS A RECORD FOR ME IM SURE! SOMEBODY CELEBATE WITH ME! *cough***

** Anyway in the past 48 hours I'm fairly sure that I've spent the majority of my waking time writing something, I'm also looking at starting a Kuroko no basket fanfic but this is my new focus. Also something cool, the first chapter hasn't even been out for a day yet and I already have two reviews. I like it **

**Falloutsaint: Okay I explain why I was putting Harsh childhood on hold, I feel like I have too much to catch up on with it. Anyway I've wanted to do a fic like this for a while now anyway. Thank you for the review and positive feedback. Besides who to say there won't be a Kyuubi Naruto thing going on in this one?**

**Guest: Thank you for pointing that out I was just in automatic mode when I wrote this so I didn't notice. **

**Please read and review! **

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**Chapter 2: Friends**

**(May 9****th****, Sasuke)**

Sasuke growled, he had been trying to find his dobe of a teammate's apartment for the better part of two hours now but he had had little to no luck. It was the day after Team Seven had returned from Nami and Sasuke had been tossing and turning in his bed all night thinking about a certain blond haired teammate of his. He had come to the annoying conclusion that he had to not only thank Naruto for helping him unlock his sharingan faster but he also had to confess to Naruto in no uncertain terms that the blond haired dobe was his friend… his best and only friend at that. Unfortunately that thought made Sasuke blush all over, it sounded so… so _girly_ to say that, he would rather just spar with Naruto and make some comment when they were done, but Sasuke was still in no condition to spar, at least not very well.

Sasuke had originally thought that he knew where Naruto lived and thought that he could just turn up, say his piece and leave, but he had been mistaken, he apparently had no idea where Naruto lived beyond a fairly large area. That was only part of his annoyance though another was that he was convinced that Naruto lived in this area and that in itself annoyed him. He knew that Konoha had its rough areas every village, town and city did so it was no surprise really but he had no idea that Naruto actually lived in this kind of area! The thought of his teammate living in the area of Konoha that had the highest crime rate was appalling, he knew that Naruto was an orphan and had lived off of the state for many years but there were cheap apartments elsewhere in the village, hell Sasuke's own apartment was relatively cheap and he had paid for it with the orphan fund that he had got before he became a Genin.

What made it worse though was that Sasuke knew from when his father was still alive that this area had a ridiculous amount of drunken disorderly behaviour. His father had been the head of the Konoha Military Police when it was still fully functional, Sasuke had checked a few years ago and found that the branch was slowly dying due to lack of interest and the T&I department was taking up the slack. The KMP had been mainly run and staffed by the Uchiha clan before the massacre. Still the information about the area combined with what he was hearing from all of the civilians that were wandering around was making Sasuke uneasy.

"You should stay away from that demon Uchiha-sama."

"He's a monster that one kid, you should stay away from him."

"It's a disgrace that the demon was able to join the ninja corps at all, don't bother with him."

"Don't bother with that one."

'Demon? Monster?' Sasuke had to bite his tongue to keep from screaming that that 'demon' was his teammate and had saved his life! Sasuke had seen the way that the villagers had always looked at Naruto, how could he not? They openly glared at him in the streets! Even some of their clients had done nothing but give Naruto grief during some of their D-ranks missions despite the fact that the blond had been doing an excellent job. Sasuke had never really cared at the time because he had been too distracted, his own bad mood from having to do chores as missions kept him from paying too much attention to what was happening to Naruto. He was just glad that Kakashi had put the villagers back in their place whenever they had got too bad; it was amazing what Naruto could shrug off. Sasuke actually admired Naruto for that, he was never able to keep his cool like Naruto could. Whenever anyone started talking about Itachi or said anything bad about the Uchiha clan Sasuke practically turned feral. It was something that he was not proud of but he was working on it.

Sasuke had always just assumed that the villagers didn't like Naruto because the blond was always pulling pranks on anyone that he could get away with. He had painted the faces of the Hokage for Kami's sake, there had to be some backlash, but the amount of undisguised hate that Sasuke was sensing was on an entirely different level, no one should hate Naruto this much for a few pranks. The Uchiha had a hard time imagining _anything_ that Naruto could have done to incur this kind of malice being directed at him and surely anything bad enough to actually do that Sasuke would know about. Wouldn't he? It wasn't like the village could keep a secret about Naruto anyway, whenever the blond pulled a prank half the village knew within a day.

Why did people hate Naruto so much? What could he have possibly done to deserve this kind of treatment? It was at that moment that Sasuke realised that he didn't care. Naruto was his teammate and his friend that was all Sasuke needed to know. He hadn't been through all the emotional turmoil of the last couple of days just to be dissuaded by something that Naruto may have done in the past. Naruto was his one and only friend, he could forgive the blond dobe.

Eventually Sasuke came across a shinobi that didn't seem to care about Naruto being a 'demon' at all; he just said the insult as if it were Naruto's actual name and pointed Sasuke to the worst part of the area. Apparently Naruto owned an apartment at the top level of one of the buildings. Sasuke couldn't help but scowl at the place and repeated his earlier thought of 'how could Naruto stand to live in an area like this?'

With a much smaller area to cover Sasuke was quickly able to find Naruto's apartment with his chakra signature, after all the blond stuck out like a sore thumb if you were actually looking for him. Naruto had so much chakra that even a rookie to sensing chakra like Sasuke could pick him out of a crowd without any difficulty.

The Uchiha hesitated though when he actually reached Naruto's door, what was he going to say? He wasn't very good at social interactions and he really didn't know if Naruto considered him a friend as well or not, they insulted each other at every opportunity and most of it wasn't in jest either. At least from Sasuke's side it wasn't in jest with Naruto who knew? No, Naruto was, at his core, kind hearted and wore his heart on his sleeve. Sasuke tried not to think it was because of all the abuse that Naruto had apparently lived with, or the fact that Naruto had no family and had been alone all his life.

Sasuke shook his head and knocked on the door determined to just face Naruto, say his piece and leave. It took a moment and Sasuke was sure that he sensed Naruto head for what he guessed was a window in the apartment before the blond actually came to the door.

Despite the still relatively early hour Naruto was dressed in his horrifically orange jumpsuit with his head band proudly tied around his forehead, Naruto was clearly still not quite awake however as he looked at his visitor. When Naruto registered that it was Sasuke at his door though the blond brightened up a little but seemed very confused.

"Sasuke… What are you doing here; I thought we had the next couple of days off?" Naruto asked yawing widely and scratching the back of his neck as he stared at Sasuke who was feeling something akin to stage fright. What did he say? Should he just blurt it out and leave or should he try and make conversation and bring it up later. Crap! He really hadn't planned this out very well.

"Err we do I just… erm I mean I was wandering by when I thought hey Naruto lives around here," Sasuke chuckled pathetically, Naruto was giving him the strangest look and actually looked around his neighbourhood as if to say 'You would actually walk around here?' "Good morning?"

"Riiight," Naruto dragged out looking Sasuke up and down for a moment before moving to give Sasuke a clear look into his apartment. "You want to come in?" 'Kami yes!' Sasuke thought but outwardly tried to maintain some of his nonchalance and just nodded with a small smile. Naruto gave him an almost worried look before wandering back into his cosy apartment.

Sasuke took his sandals off as he looked around, Naruto's main door led straight into a kitchen/dining room area with the stove and fridge over to the left and a family sixed table just in front of the door. To the right was a door that Sasuke guessed led to the rest of the apartment as there was only a window in the wall opposite the door. What surprised Sasuke though were the amount of potted plants in the room, there was one hanging from the ceiling in the far corner opposite the main door, one on the table, one on the far side of the counter by the window and what looked like some more plants outside the window.

"Their medicinal herbs," Sasuke glanced at his teammate when Naruto spoke up having followed Sasuke's gaze. "I used to get a lot of cuts and scrapes when I was younger so I started growing them, easy to make some simple ointments with them. Saved me a lot of money in the long run, I still make them." Naruto grinned, the blond dug into his hip pouch and tossed Sasuke a small container. The Uchiha was only mildly surprised when he opened it and found a mostly full pot of ointment. "Good for stopping light bleeding, preventing infection and increasing healing." Sasuke sniffed the pot wondering if this was a prank but figured that this would be going a bit far for a prank, besides Naruto had no way of knowing that he was coming round today and there was even a small pile of what looked like medical basics by the window.

"Since when did you become so literate dobe?" Sasuke smirked and tried to hand the ointment back to Naruto but was surprised when Naruto pushed Sasuke's hand back.

"Keep it, I can always make more and for you information being loud has no impact on my reading skills," Naruto frowned his eyebrow twitching as he stared at Sasuke. "Besides it took me a while to grow the plants so I had plenty of time to read up on what I needed to do." Sasuke looked at the plants again before he dropped the ointment into his hip pouch it was only then that he realised that he was still stood in the doorway of Naruto's home with said blond leaning against his table looking at Sasuke expectantly. "So why are you here? And don't give me that 'You were just walking by' crap." Sasuke shut his mouth as he was going to say just that but sighed a little, better that he just got it over with.

"I wanted to talk to you about our mission to Nami," Sasuke started but stopped when Naruto flinched and suddenly looked far less confident than he had a moment ago, in fact he looked downright guilty. Sasuke wondered why but carried on; he had his piece to say first. "I wanted to thank you."

"WHAT!?" Naruto's shout shocked Sasuke that was not the reaction he was expecting. Naruto took a moment to calm down before he spoke again. "Why in Kami's name are you thanking me?!" Naruto demanded looking on the verge of tears as he tried to keep looking Sasuke in the eyes. "It's because of me that you nearly died!" Sasuke frowned for a second before he caught on to what Naruto was saying, the Uchiha could have slapped himself for being such an idiot of course Naruto was guilty. Sakura, Kakashi and Sasuke had all told Naruto what an idiot he was for just jumping into the battle with Haku like he had, though Sasuke didn't realise that Naruto blamed himself for what had happened to Sasuke.

Naruto scoffed and moved away from the table to stand by the window clearly wanting to look anywhere but at Sasuke.

"I'm sorry," Sasuke said as he moved to stand a little ways behind Naruto, he really hadn't thought about how Naruto might have viewed their fight with Haku. Sasuke had come to the conclusion that it had been mostly a victory but Naruto obviously didn't see it that way. If the look in his eyes was any indication than Naruto was clearly ashamed of what he had done.

"What are you appologsing for?" Naruto mumbled turning back to look at Sasuke with shimmering eyes. "Because I wanted… wanted to play it cool and get the spotlight you almost died," the blond held Sasuke's gaze for a second before he looked away. "I didn't treat that battle seriously. I treated it like a game and you… you 'died'." Sasuke wanted to say something to his teammate but he really didn't know what to say, he may have accepted Naruto as his friend now but that didn't mean that he knew how to deal with this! It was only when the Uchiha looked to his side and noticed exactly what type of plant was on Naruto's counter top that he found something to say.

"Is that a jasmine tea plant?" The completely random question seemed to snap Naruto out of his thoughts as the blond tuned to look at the plant and then at Sasuke who already knew that it was in fact a jasmine tea plant but was playing dumb to get his friends mind off of the battle on this bridge.

"Yeah… You want some?" Naruto asked getting a disinterested nod from Sasuke as the Uchiha tried to maintain his act of not really caring, it was considerably harder when he _did _in fact care. Naruto put some water on to boil while he stripped the plant of a few leaves and placed them in a pair of cups. Neither of them spoke until the water was boiled and Naruto poured it into the cups. "It's a not a strong leaf so you might want to let it soak a bit."

Sasuke almost growled at Naruto's now sullen mood, this was not how he had planned this. In his mind he would come over tell Naruto thank you, show the blond his new eyes and confess that Naruto was his best friend, then the blond would laugh at his embarrassment, Sasuke would call him a dobe and Naruto would call him teme and the world would be back to normal! Naruto should not be acting all depressed. Taking a seat at Naruto's table Sasuke was happy when Naruto actually took a seat opposite him, it would give the Uchiha a chance to look Naruto in the eye and talk to him, but as Sasuke was coming up with the words to say what was on his mind he gave up and just sighed. Screw words, being blunt was his specialty, some called it being socially awkward he called it getting to the point.

"You screwed up on the bridge Naruto but I don't blame you, and despite what you may think I am actually going to thank you for it," Sasuke began glad that he had Naruto's full attention as Sasuke couldn't stop the full blown cocky smirk from taking over his face as he looked at the blond and quite flashily activated his sharingan. The effect was instantaneous as Naruto gasped and leaned in a little closer a small smiled tugging at the edges of his sullen expression.

"You unlocked your sharingan," Naruto said about to congratulate him before he looked at each of Sasuke's eyes and frowned. "But they had a different number of tomoe, one has two and the other only has one and Kaka-sensei's had three." Sasuke was actually a little happy that Naruto pointed that out as it let him brag about his kekkai genkai a little.

"Kakashi-Sensei's sharingan is a fully mature one so it has three tomoe, I've only just unlocked mine so they don't have three," Naruto nodded still looking at Sasuke's eyes with a kind of fascination that Sasuke really didn't mind. The sharingan were the symbol of the Uchiha clan and Naruto being fascinated by them was something of a compliment from Sasuke's point of view. "So with training mine should be fully mature in no time at all." Naruto pouted when Sasuke turned his sharingan off but didn't say anything as he leaned back in his chair and looked at Sasuke, the blond was no longer in a sullen mood and Sasuke hopped that it stayed that way. _'Time for the first admission then.'_ Sasuke thought nervously glancing up at Naruto before the Uchiha looked out of the window. Why was it hard to admit these things to people?

"Sasuke?" Naruto's worried tone drew Sasuke's attention back towards Naruto where the Uchiha sighed and decided to just bite the kunai and get it over with.

"I was only able to unlock my sharingan because…." Sasuke actually swallowed as he tried to force the word out of his mouth the feeling wasn't unlike the fire time he had tried to perform a fire jutsu. "I only unlocked it because I wanted to… I wanted to protect you." Naruto stared at Sasuke for a full minute before the blond seemed to shake himself out of his little stupor to form and elegant reply.

"Wha?" Sasuke sighed he really didn't want to go into full detail about his feelings with Naruto they weren't that close and Sasuke hoped that they never were, he didn't like sharing.

"When you passed out on the bridge, Haku started going straight for you to try and catch me off guard but I started to deflect his senbon… all of them," Naruto looked a little dubious for a moment, Sasuke had no doubt that Naruto remembered exactly how fast Haku could throw his damned needles untyil he caught on to what Sasuke was saying.

"Your sharingan."

"Exactly, but all I could think about was that if he got to you he would kill you and I… I didn't want him to because…" Sasuke sighed again and looked up at Naruto's ceiling it was amazing that looking away from Naruto helped him say these things. "You're my friend and I didn't want him to hurt you."

"…"

"Naruto?"

"…Friend?" Nauto looked totally confused as he said that an looked at Sasuke as if had grown another head.

"Yeah, what else would we be?" Sasuke aske , more than a little worried now that Naruto actually didn't consider him a friend back, he would not take rejection well.

"Comrades," Naruot started clearly scrambling for a reason why they shouldn't be friends. "We're teammates we don't have to be..

"Don't have to be." Sasuke said smirking at Naruto like he used to whenever he did something that the blond couldn't. "But you are my friend Naruto, my only friend. These are proof." Sasuke flashed his sharingan again to prove him point but looked a little worried when Naruto just stared at him blankly for a moment before the blond picked up hi tea cup and started drinking.

Still loosely holding his own tea in one hand Sasuke glanced down and could tell that the water was still very hot but Naruto didn't even seem to notice as he quickly downed the entire cup and set it back down onto his table slowly.

"Well how was that?"

"Hot," Naruto mumbled looking back at Sasuke with a little bit more focus than before. "So I'm your friend?"

"Best friend." Sasuke corrected quickly wishing that this entire thing would just be other with, it was embarrassing enough without it being dragged out.

"Best… friend," Naruto seemed to have trouble even forming the words. "Even though I almost got you killed?"

"Helped me unlock my sharingan." Sasuke grinned, once again flashing his sharingan at Naruto who smiled just a little at the sight. Trying to keep that smile on the blond's face Sasuke held out one of his fists to Naruto. "You're my best friend dobe just accept it." That got the reaction that Sasuke was hoping for as Naruto growled something that sounded like 'teme' and bumped fists with him.

"Well thanks for the tea," Sasuke said getting up and heading for the door. Mission accomplished Naruto was now officially aware and he had been thanked, he also hoped that Naruto's worries about their battle with Haku were put to rest as well but he had had enough of sharing feelings for one day.

"Hey Sasuke," Naruto called after the Uchiha before Sasuke could leave the apartment. "You're my best friend to." Naruto was clearly blushing as he admitted that and refused to look at Sasuke who just smirked as he opened the door to the apartment.

"Hn dobe." Naruto's reaction was only delayed by half a second but it was more than enough for Sasuke to exit the apartment and close the door.

"TEME!" Sasuke chuckled as he jumped from Naruto's apartment building and back in the direction of his own. Yes, that was how their friendship should be, casual insults back and forth, not need to say to one another that they actually cared because it only needed to be said once. Let their actions speak louder than words.

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**(May 10****th****, Naruto)**

"Dobe why are you here?" Sasuke asked, or more accurately demanded. Naruto had decided to return Sasuke's favour from the day before and visit the Uchiha at his apartment.

"What friends can't just visit friends?" Naruto could tell from the way that Sasuke frowned and was obviously trying to suppress a sigh that the Uchiha didn't really mind, besides Sasuke just randomly showed up on his doorstep and dropped an explosive tag, Naruto thought the least he could do was return the favour.

"Fine, you want to come in?" Sasuke asked moved out of the way so that Naruto could get into his apartment. Unlike Naruto's, Sasuke's front door opened into a short hallway, straight in front and down the hall Naruto could see Sasuke's Kitchen and dining room, the wall to the right of the door was empty obviously because of the apartment next door but the wall on the left had a door sat in between the entrance and the kitchen. "Bathroom." Naruto nodded at the input and followed Sasuke towards the kitchen which actually had a sitting area attached to it. There was another door opposite where Sasuke's bathroom was that Naruto guessed was Sasuke's bedroom but he didn't really care as he looked around. Sasuke had apparently been reading a ninjutsu scroll before Naruto interrupted him and the Uchiha casually sat back down at his dining table to continue reading. After a few minutes of awkward silence though where Naruto just stood looking at Sasuke the Uchiha finally glanced over at Naruto again. "What is it dobe?"

"I need to buy some new ninja gear," Sasuke actually looked up at Naruto when the blond admitted that, Naruto really hoped that the Uchiha wouldn't ask him why or why Naruto wanted Sasuke to come with him for that matter. The truth was that Naruto wore the clothes that he did for the same reason that he acted like a clown and idiot. It was a way of getting attention but now that Sasuke had admitted to being his friend, an idea that Naruto was still ecstatic about, and with Sakura and Kakashi acknowledging him Naruto didn't feel that he needed to wear something outrageous just for the attention that he got. The others were right anyway, while orange was an awesome colour Naruto stood out like a sore thumb half the time and with his vow to take training more seriously Naruto figured that a new outfit was required.

"You need me to hold your hand dobe?" Sasuke grunted getting Naruto to practically growl at him but the Uchiha just shrugged. "Go ask Sakura if you want advice on clothes."

"It's not clothes its shinobi gear and Sakura thinks wearing a bright pink dress is a good idea,"

"It's red and you're the one wearing _orange_." Sasuke smirked; Naruto got the feeling that Sasuke just got a kick out of riling Naruto up but the Uchiha did take a moment to actually think about it. "Why now?"

"Well…" Naruto hesitated he really didn't want to admit the truth to Sasuke, it seemed really pathetic even from Naruto's point of view. "Look we can either have another heart to heart," Naruto smirked at the way that Sasuke tensed up at that threat. "Or you can come help me get some new shinobi gear." Sasuke only had to think for a moment before he sighed and stood up.

"Lead the way," Naruto ignored the resigned tone of Sasuke's voice and smugly led them out of Sasuke's apartment and towards the market areas of Konoha. Naruto knew exactly where he was going as there was only one shinobi store that had never ripped him off before.

It was only when Naruto spotted the store that he wanted to go in that he realised that Sasuke had been silent the entire way there. For a brief second Naruto thought that Sasuke had ditched him but that proved to not be true when the blond turned and saw Sasuke walking just behind him glaring at someone. At first Naruto thought that it was him but when he followed the Uchiha's line of sight he saw a shinobi coming their way that was opening sneering at Naruto.

When the shinobi made a point of pushing past Naruto Sasuke looked like he was about to say something until Naruto grabbed his arm and pulled him away.

"Dobe what the hell, let go of me," Sasuke snapped dividing his attention between the now smirking shinobi and clearly sullen Naruto. "He did that on purpose."

"Just ignore it," Naruto mumbled, he really didn't want Sasuke or Sakura for that matter to find out about the Kyuubi just, after all he had only just become Sasuke's friend he didn't want to scare the Uchiha away just after that had happened. Naruto wasn't even going to try and delude himself into thinking that Sasuke would remain his friend after the Uchiha found out. "It's easier if you just ignore them."

"Naruto-kun!" On instinct Naruto plastered a wide grin on his face as he heard a familiar voice from inside the shop. He knew that Sasuke wanted to say more to him but Naruto figured that his raven haird teammate wouldn't make a scene.

"Tenten-chan," Naruto laughed wandering over to a girl about a year and a half older than him. Tenten had steel grey eyes and brown hair done up in buns with short fringe bangs falling over her headband on her forehead. The weapon obsessed kunoichi was wearing her typical pink sleeveless qipao-style blouse with red sleeve trimmings and yellow fastening buttons as well as dark green pants and standard blue ninja sandals. "You will never guess what?" Without even realising it Naruto had fallen back into his hyperactive act and realised that Sasuke was going to have a field day grilling him about this later.

"Someone finally managed to convince you to give up orange?" Naruto blinked at the amazing accurate guess before nodding slowly.

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**(May 10****th****, Kakashi)**

"This seems a little extreme Hatake-sama," Kakashi had to supress a sigh at the honorific attached to his name, he hated being referred to like that but he was here to do business and he wouldn't deny that in this kind of situation it did help to have some kind of leverage. "I can understand wanting to keep trade secrets but in the end metal is just metal."

"You are not a shinobi Yama-san," Kakashi tried to explain for what felt like the hundredth time, he knew that the man would be more than willing to agree especially with the amount of money that Kakashi was offering him. Kakashi may live in a one roomed apartment with no kitchen or bathroom but the Jōnin was by no means poor, he had all of the Hatake clan's savings and even without that Kakashi had brought in multiple bounties and been on _many_ S-Rank missions. The masked ninja was only twenty six but could retire and live like a lord for the rest of his natural life if he so wished. Of course even Kakashi was not that lazy.

"Yes that is true I am not a shinobi," Yama was a tall man with a bald head and freshly shaven face with an impressive build befitting his craft as a blacksmith, he was actually one of the best within the village and one that Kakashi had visited multiple times this was Kakashi's first time asking for a service other than a simple repair however. Kakashi was asking the blacksmith to repair his families White Chakra Sabre that Kakashi's father had left him before Sakumo took his own life. The complication however came with the second half of the request. "You are certain that this genjutsu will not affect me afterwards?"

"I can guarantee it," Kakashi had asked that Yama have a genjutsu cast upon him while he worked. The reason for this was quite simple, the Hatake clan while known for producing very capable ninja that almost always reached Jōnin level, Kakashi and Sakumo had been rare prodigies, the Hatake clan was small and did not earn its small amount of fame from its shinobi alone. The Hatake clan was known for its unique chakra sabres and clan armour. Even back during the warring clan days the Hatake clan had not been very large, with only a few dozen shinobi at any one time, their numbers paled in comparison to the other clans hundreds and sometimes thousands. While priding themselves on being highly skilled shinobi however the Hatake clan survived by trading their special chakra sabres and armour for other clans protection, though the clan elders wisely stayed away from the conflicts between the Senju and the Uchiha, they never the less found themselves coming under assault from clans that wanted their secrets. For a chakra blade made by the Hatake clan, channelled chakra better, the armour of the Hatake clan was stronger than any other.

Kakashi didn't know exactly why his clan had stopped making such weapons and armour because he knew from personal experience that his father's sabre had channelled chakra better than anything else Kakahi had fought with. Given that he was the only Hatake left though he guessed that either back as far back as the founding of the village or during one of the great shinobi world wars that a large number of the clan must have been killed that simply left them without the numbers to continue. Many clans had suffered similar fates; the Namikaze clan was a prime example.

"How will it work then," Yama asked glancing around nervously, he knew that if Kakashi was going to these kinds of lengths that he wouldn't be allowed to involve his apprentices but he really wished that one of them were there, while great customers shinobi scared Yama stiff.

"Upon your agreement and signing of our contract I will place you under a genjutsu now. The Genjutsu will only activate when you go to work on my order, it will only have the effect of you making sure that you are alone while you work and making sure that you remember nothing of the work when you are finished." Kakashi explained with what he hoped was a kind smile. "I would not ask anything more of you Yama-san." The blacksmith was clearly still uneasy about the deal but one more look down at the amount of money being offered and the actual workload had Yama hesitant to decline as well. Eventually the blacksmith shrugged, and signed the contact to make it official. When he looked up however he was met with the briefest flash of a sharingan before Kakashi was smiling at him again.

"That's it?" Yama asked looking around and own at his body, Kakashi had to wonder exactly what rumours Yama had heard about genjutsu to be so surprised at the normalcy that he must have felt. "I don't feel any different."

"Good, I would be worried if you did," Kakashi said, the Jōnin pulled out an ornate wooden box that held the blueprints for the Hatake chakra blades as well as the broken pieces of his own sabre. While the clan may not have made any new sabres or armour in years the blueprints were still kept perfectly preserved within the Hatake estate. Kakashi had never had his sabre fixed because he had never had the heart to enter his old estate after his father had died but after his talk with Gai, and several hours of psyching himself up, he was able to wander through the halls of his old home to retrieve what he needed. Kakashi actually felt kind of relieved about it, like a small weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. For the first time ever he was actually considering moving back into the estate, the entire place needed a good dust but there was nothing wrong with it.

"I'll get to work on this right away Hatake-sama," Yama said, the blacksmith clearly missed the sullen look on Kakashi's face at the honorific and went straight to work. Kakashi watched the man for a moment before wandering out of the smithy, he had an estate to sort out.

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** (May 10****th****, Sakura) **

Sakura sighed, setting the book that she had been reading down and rubbing her eyes. She was in Konoha's library, where she had been for the past ay and a half scouring every bookshelf for any and all information that she could get her hands on. Sakura wasn't foolish enough to believe that there would be a 'Get strong quick' book hidden somewhere in the library but she had hoped to find something that could help her develop her skills. For once it seemed luck was on her side however as she had found the Genjutsu for beginners book that she was currently reading and another scroll had mentioned that shinobi with excellent chakra control were advised to go into the medical ninja program. Sakura had not once thought about becoming a medical shinobi but after her performance in Nami she thought that it might be a good idea, she would never be the frontline powerhouse that Naruto and Sasuke were going to be so maybe a support role would be good for her team. Besides being a medical ninja didn't mean that she would be weak, Tsunade-sama was the world's best medic-nin and she was a Sanin.

Sakura had decided to ask Kakashi about it when they returned to duty in two days, until then she would keep reading up on genjutsu and hope that she could pick something up.

Sakura knew one thing for sure though, she would not let her teammates leave her behind, even if she couldn't stand with them she would always support them from their backs. She was through being useless.

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** So I'm back at work tomorrow so don't expect another chapter released tomorrow I was up until one in the morning writing this and I can't do that before work **

** Please leave a review cas we all know that reviews are like love and I need love :P **


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